Sylvia Browne is extremely hit or miss for me. I like exploring new ideas about faith and her books often are food for thought. I try to be open-minded when reading her books even when there are huge issues with logic in the ideas discussed (a common problem with any faith-based book).

Francine tries to explain why people live and what life is like between lives. While the ideas presented are interesting I had a hard time really comprehending what she was trying to explain. Much of it didn't make sense and some things in the book contradicted other sections of the book or of Browne's other books.

As someone who is alive, I can't have an opinion about the accuracy of the claims made in the book but I did think some things touched on were problematic (and often contradictory). For instance, people consent to the way they die, even if they are murdered, but only people who hate themselves can get cancer (page 29). Animals go to the other side, unless they are animals people don't like such as rats (not sure if there are exceptions made for domesticated pet rats but if there isn't there certainly should be).

I won't even go into Browne's explanation for homosexuality and miscarriages. Let's just say I really was bothered by the contents of this book and felt that there were huge leaps in logic and commentary on issues that perhaps would have been better left alone. I don't know if Francine knows what she is talking about or not but, at the very least, the way the information was presented could have been significantly improved.

I also am wary of how often Francine mentioned the Gnostic Faith having the "real" answers to life's questions.

I don't want to dissuade anyone from reading this book. It is possible you will genuinely enjoy it and it will be a rich spiritual experience for you. It might give you comfort and answers about the meaning of life. Just go in knowing that some of the answers are problematic and may make you cringe. ( )

Sylvia Browne......I have a love/hate relationship with her philosophies and beliefs. I feel her intention is well meaning, and good......
But then I read her books. And this is where the trouble starts. For me, anyway. She has her own church, the Society of Novus Spiritus....and her own corporation.....she has helped police by using her psychic ability.....appears on talk shows......
and this makes me feel she comes off as more a corporation than a believer.
In this book she communicates with her spirit guide, Francine......and did it gets jiggy....
Below are quotes and claims from this book that I find hardest to grasp.....
Her views of suicidal victims: you will be constantly "sent back" to face the same circumstance until you learn to "stay in". Wonder how that is preached to her congregation.....
"The Earth plane is temporary and contains negative energy, so it is what you might call anti-matter. The energy and matter on the Other Side is true matter"
The Other Side:we chose our bodies and features and personality and we all communicate telepathically through the 7 levels.Everyone is 30 years old....they have social activities there, and sex, and soulmates (she seems to not include any relationship as real unless it's heterosexual and the man leads).....The Other Side is divided into quadrants and each quadrant has its own orientation center.
Ok, this is the one that really gets me:
"many chose to incarnate on to Earth plane to experience negativity". That is the only reason we come to Earth...??
Throughout the book this seems to be the prevailing attitude.....all we experience on Earth is negative and "when the need for negativity ceases, the physical plane of existence will end as they will no longer be needed" Apparently the only way to spiritual enlightenment and a positive life.....is to die....
I disagree with her definition of karma and incarnation. ... (incarnation takes alot of planning and is a lengthy process that must first be approved by a council)......huh?
There are a few other point that keep me a Sylvia Brown skeptic. ...
I'll save them for another time.
Skeptically interesting book...... ( )

Yep, another "wierdo, out-there" book. LOL This one is a dissertation on
life, afterlife, before life, and reincarnation, "given" to us by Sylvia's
spirit guide, Francine. Yeah, I know that sounds goofy from the get-go, but
I still wanted to read this, just to see what it says.

Some of you won't be interested in the entire subject, and for those of you
who are not, just click "next message" and move along.

If you are still with me, though, perhaps you, too, are interested in the
subject of reincarnation. According to statistics in this book, well over
two thirds of the world's population believes in reincarnation. This book
attempts to explain the process and it does make a great deal of logical
sense. We were, all several billion of us, created at the same exact
instant, with the singular goal of perfecting our souls to further the
wisdom of God. We pick a Life Theme and come into this dimensional world in
order to perfect that theme. Some do it in just a few lives, others choose
to spread it out over many lives.

This book attempts to explain the process we go through, on the Other Side,
when we decide to incarnate again. The plans that we make for our lives are
very detailed and would take years of Earth time to compose, just as they
take years to complete. We chart everything into our life plan, from what
parents we will have, to what color we will be, where and when we will "come
in," every detail of experience we will have. The purpose of all of this is
to experience all forms of negativity that will shape and perfect our souls.
We have to come here in order to do this because there is no negativity on
the Other Side. She stresses that it is only through adversity that we
grow, something that I've known for a long time, intuitively. There is a
huge difference between reading about something and experiencing it
ourselves, and while the life charts of every human who ever lived are
available on The Other Side for research and study, the only way we can
truly understand it is to live through it ourselves.

As I said, this book won't be for everybody, but if you are interested in
the subject, I would definitely recommend this particular book. I enjoyed
it a lot and it's a quick read, but with plenty of food for thought, I
think. I give it a 4. ( )